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$200k Price Reduction!
SOLD 1655 Manawagonish Road, Saint John, NB
The seller has just instructed me to slash the price of this building by $200,000.
WAS $899,000…. NOW $699,000!
I often gets calls from people asking how much the church is on Manawagonish Road. I can understand why people may be confused as the sign out front says “Convention of Baptist Churches” but this is actually a 15,000 square foot brick office building that was built in 1981, sits on 2 acres of land and enjoys beautiful views of the Fundy coast. For more information on this amazing opportunity including more photos CLICK HERE
P.S. Desks were custom ordered for the offices and are available as part of the sale (subject to negotiations)
Bank of New Brunswick a.k.a Le Faubourg sold
125 Prince William Street, Saint John
First listed for sale in 2008 for $1,250,000, this building (easily identified by its massive pillars) has been sold. Over the years we’ve had a couple of accepted offers which failed to close for different reasons but we’ve finally gotten this one across the finish line!
The buyers, Ron Lovett & Courtney Sherlock from Halifax, see the building as a great long term investment. “We have really seen so much growth in uptown Saint John over the past 4 years. It’s really starting to come alive” commented Lovett.
“The building is so beautiful, it just needs a little TLC” says Lovett.
The building is occupied by the previous owner Arc’f de Saint-Jean Inc. and they will be remaining as a tenant on the top floor of the building for up to 2 years. The ground floor on Water Street is home to Loyalist City Brewery.
The main vacancies are the former AlleyGria restaurant space on the level below Prince William and the Prince William Street “bar” space which many Saint John residents still remember operated at one time as the nightclub “Pillars”.
Stephanie Turner represented the Seller and Jason Stephen of Royal LePage represented the Buyer with a shout out to Judith Makin at TUCK Studio for being such a great ambassador for the building and the community!
Lorneville Mechanical leasing E.S. Fox building
405 King William Road, Saint John
As reported by HUDDLE, Lorneville Mechanical Contractor’s Ltd (“Lorneville”) announced this week that they won a contract to fabricate large modules as part of an expansion at the Irving Oil Refinery. Although they’re manufacturing the components at their current facility in the Spruce Lake Industrial Park, they required additional space. The nearby E.S. Fox building located at 405 King William Road was vacant and on the market. They’re using the Fox building for their tooling group and for some material storage associated with the project. “Given the short term nature of the contact, it didn’t make financial sense to purchase the building but we were fortunate enough to be able to negotiate a 9 month lease of the facility” says Todd Bethune, Lorneville’s C.F.O. There were other ways to satisfy the requirement for additional space but the close proximity to Lorneville’s current facility made the E.S. Fox building an ideal solution and both sides were pleased to be able to hammer out a deal.
The 24,000 sq ft facility with 54’ clear ceiling height sits on 27 acres of land and is ideal for large module manufacturing. It will continue to be marketed for sale or lease and will be vacated by Lorneville in early March 2018. For more information on 405 King William Road click HERE
Stephanie Turner represented both the Landlord and Tenant in the transaction
Is talking to the media worth it? #91King
Despite the fact that they often screw it up (not you Huddle!)… the answer is yes! Especially since I’m fortunate to have a platform where I can help set the record straight.
I did an interview this week with a rookie Telegraph Journal reporter. She did not misquote me in the story but left out a lot of great stuff that would have made this a positive story! Things such as:
- I told her that it’s not unheard of for large redevelopment projects such as this to take as long as 4 years to sell. 1) The Bustins portfolio took 4 years and look at it now! (Thanks Historica!!). 2) Le Faubourg at 125 Prince William Street had been listed for several years and is FINALLY under agreement and is scheduled to close in 2017.
- Yes, I did say there are not many investors willing to take risk but I did not say there aren’t any… we just need more!
- 91 King has seen a flurry of activity since Irving Oil’s Home Office began construction across the square.
And lastly, when asked about the status of the retail market in uptown Saint John I could not stop gushing about the vibe uptown… the unique restaurants, pubs & micro breweries that are quickly putting Uptown Saint John on the map as a “foodie destination”. We have this growing cluster and it will attract more!
Missed the TJ article? You can read it below SOURCE: TODAY’S EDITION on-line at thttp://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ODN/TelegraphJournal/#
How I approach CRE photography
I am very fortunate to be selling (and leasing) commercial real estate in a city with amazing architecture. With over 10 years in the industry, I have a discovered a few photography tricks of the trade. When taking exterior building shots, I like to ensure that the sun shining and that there’s a nice blue sky. If possible, I like to get leaves or plants in the foreground of the photo to help frame the shot and add depth.
I also try to get photos which help showcase the character of the property if applicable.
It only takes a few extra minutes to consider the lighting, angle and composition of the photo. With digital photography it costs nothing to snap a few extra “non traditional” shots to see what you get. Getting a good shot is not the final step… editing is also important. Creative cropping and fine tuning of exposure makes all the difference.
In an effort to improve my photography skills I have recently taken to honing my skills via online training and participating in a virtual social platform called Guru Shots.
Scotsburn “Popsicle Plant” SOLD
130 Station Street, Saint John, New Brunswick
The Scotsburn Frozen Novelty plant on Station Street across from Harbour Station has a new owner. Commercial Properties Limited already owned the land on either side of the property so it’s no surprise that they had an interest. Paul Moore, VP of Commercial Properties explained “Commercial Properties Limited is a commercial real estate company with a desire to do new development. The ability to assemble substantially sized parcels of land is key to being ready to pursue opportunities when the timing is right.” A recent example of this is the new liquor store. Commercial Properties had acquired the parking lot at the corner of Wellington and Union in 2014 which meant they were well positioned to respond to the NB Liquor Corporation RFP.
Commercial Properties has been working on plans to demolish the Station Street building. “There’s a lot of concrete & rebar in there” said Erica Gorman, an engineer with Commercial Properties. “Taking the building down is not a simple exercise.” The building is slated for the wrecking ball in the near future.
Stephanie Turner was the listing agent.
Former “Freddy’s Frenchys” building SOLD
303 Westmorland Road, Saint John
After more than 2 years on the market, 303 Westmorland Road has traded and people can expect to see some activity there in the coming months. The building took longer than expected to sell. One of the main factors that was discouraging buyers was that the spot zoning only allowed for “used clothing sales” meaning that any other use needed to apply for a rezoning/variance.
Once Collins Tours was successful in getting the property rezoned for their use, they purchased the building. “I really liked the attraction of this building for more than one reason” said Greg Collins. “The location of the building was key, remaining in the east side was important since our office has been in the east side of Saint John for 15 plus years, the layout of the building being open concept, the overall improvements made to the building, and investment opportunity of owning vs leasing a property.”
Collins also shared the following message, “In the end I want to thank the previous owner for his help and patience, Gary and Stephanie for their patience, and the city of Saint John for the approval of the zoning. Most importantly, Collins Tours & Consulting Ltd wishes to thank our past, present, and future support over the past years of business to make this happen in our home city.”
Stephanie Turner was the listing agent and Gary Vincent. RE/MAX represented the buyer.
Loyalist City Brewery now brewing beer steeped in history.
60 Water Street, Saint John, NB (with before and after photos!)
“When we took the space over it was pretty rough. It took some hard work and elbow grease to get the space ready for brewing but we are thrilled with the end result.” says Mark McGraw, part owner and brewer.
The space had great bones with some exposed brick walls and one stone wall but what really attracted these young brewers to the space was the garage door. On nice days they’re going to throw open the overhead door and welcome everyone in. “We are well positioned to serve thirsty cruise ship passengers” said McGraw. Loyalist City Brewery will be one of the first businesses they will come across as they start touring the uptown and with the garage door open it should be very inviting for them to step in. “We’re already brewing a beer called “Parrtown Pale Ale” that has a Saint John story to it and I think tourists will enjoy hearing how the beer is connected to our heritage”.
Want to read more about this original Saint John beer? Visit their website loyalistcitybrewing.ca or follow them on FACEBOOK.
Want to try their beer now? It’s on tap at Cask & Kettle and Five & Dime. Their brew will also be featured at NB Liquor next week in the Growler program.
Stephanie represented both the Landlord and the Tenant in the lease transaction.
NOTE: 60 Water Street is the back side of 125 Prince William Street a.k.a. “Le Faubourg” or originally known as “The Bank of New Brunswick”. The building is currently listed FOR SALE. Buy it now as an investment with this very cool tenant in place!
Le Faubourg sees another big price reduction. Now $749,000
125 Prince William Street “Le Faubourg”, Saint John, NB
$899,000 NEW PRICE $749,000 SOLD
Ideal candidate for redevelopment! Uptown heritage with many infrastucture upgrades including sprinkers throughout, roof (Nov 2011), some repointing of brick, amost all new windows. New 400 amp 120 volt electrical entrance installed with updated wiring in 2007. Building has been converted to natural gas. Commonly, heritage buildings such as this one in the uptown core are utilized for commercial and business related enterprises. The main floor would typically be devoted to retail with the upper floors being utilized for offices and/or residential. View of Harbour on Water Street side of building.
Gross building area 17,467 square feet.
This block of Prince William Street, between Princess and Duke, has undergone (2014-2015) a complete restoration including street resurfacing, granite curbing, landscaping and decorative lighting. Close to shopping, hotels and cruise ship terminals.
For more information and interior photos click HERE
#GrowSJ Update. Top 3 salient points related to commercial real estate
Mayor Don Darling just shared a report by the city’s Commissioner of Growth and Community Development Services.
Here are the top 3 salient points relating to commercial real estate:
- Major project construction accounted for more than half of the 80 million dollars of construction projects in 2016. Notably phases one and two of the IOL home office project, the new Uptown Liquor store and retail expansion in East Point, McAllister Mall and in Millidgeville.
- Another portion of the $80 Million included re-investment in the City’s Heritage districts including major renovations to the Imperial Theatre and 20 other smaller heritage renovation projects. The City’s heritage districts were funded by the city’s heritage incentive program.
- There is 137,493 square meters (that’s almost 34 acres!) of vacant land in our prime central neighbourhood, at rates a fraction of the cost of Canada’s major cities, and ready to be developed. The land is a mix of commercial & residential. The map below shows some of the commercial opportunities.
Uptown In-Fill Map. Vacant Land Highlighted in Red
READ MAYOR DON DARLING’S ENTIRE UPDATE HERE (3 minute read)
Saint John Commercial Real Estate 